Speeches

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner Dalli! We know that those who contribute least to climate change are the ones who suffer the most from its consequences. The poor are hit harder than the rich, and the majority of the world's poor are girls and women. They are the poorest in the world. They are the poorest in the EU. They are the poorest in Sweden. It is the single mothers who are primarily forced to choose between feeding their children or paying the electricity bills. The fact that climate change amplifies the inequalities and injustices that existed before is nothing new. Yet the will of the vast majority to actually change this is lacking. There must be more of us who dare to act on the fact that a fairness perspective is a crucial prerequisite for building a sustainable future.

Madam President, thank you very much. Today's ruling is a strong and clear message to the governments of Poland and Hungary, as well as to all other leaders in the EU Member States who feel tempted to violate fundamental rights and democratic principles. Your attempts to break our common rules harm our societies and violate our values. Your policy undermines opportunities for journalists, judges, minorities and women, and at last we are taking a clear step in the right direction, towards what you are doing. The majority of Member States agree and individual governments cannot ignore this. Now we have the tool in our hands. Let's use it.

Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. The European Union is not only the richest region in the world, it is also the region in the world that enjoys the most and the greatest freedoms. It is a fact to be proud of. It is a fact to defend. We cannot, we must not accept that the EU is made up of an A and a B team: a law that has the right to enjoy these freedoms and rights and a law that has not. Women in Poland and Malta are EU citizens just as much as you and I are. It is a disgrace that we leave their right to make decisions about their own bodies in the hands of value-conservative rulers. How can we defend and fight with credibility and strength for women, whose rights are governed by religious extremists who oppress them in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, the United States and the Philippines, when we are not even able to defend the rights of our own citizens? When right-wing populists hook arms with ultra-conservative and religious groups, it is women's rights and freedoms that are attacked first. It is sad and frightening that conservative parties with such ease open the doors to far-right forces, at the cost of women's freedom. The fight continues.

Mr President, dear colleagues, I was 10 years old the first time I picked up the phone and a Nazi told me that I didn’t belong in Sweden, where I was born and raised. He said he would kill me and my family if we didn’t leave the country – my home country. The threats never stopped, but my fear became anger and my anger became political action. I am European. I am elected by the people. A Member of this House. And I stand before you as the Greens/EFA candidate for President of this Parliament. To those of you who keep telling me that I don’t belong, you are wrong. The pro-democratic majority of this House will never allow you to define who belongs to this Parliament or to our European family. Standing here today my thoughts go to our dear colleague, the late President Sassoli. He will be remembered for his seemingly effortless commitment to the European project and the work of this House. Let us honour his legacy by standing up together for fundamental rights, European solidarity and a European Union for all. There are three little words written at the bottom of every resolution, every report and every legislative position in this House. Three small words that connect us all: united in diversity. I believe in a European Parliament of diversity, but believing in diversity as a strength also means we must defend this European project. The fundamental rights of EU citizens and the rules of democracy are not negotiable. As your President, I will listen to and learn from those who stand up for their rights and our common future. From young people demanding climate justice to minorities demanding a seat at the table and brave Europeans risking their own safety to help migrants at our common borders. When governments tell our citizens that they do not have the right to decide over their own bodies, we must stand with them. As your President, I would honour the legacy of the former President Simon Veil with an initiative to reward individuals and organisations fighting for sexual and reproductive health and rights wherever they are challenged in Europe. Dear colleagues, we must earn and protect the trust of our citizens by delivering on the biggest challenges that people around Europe face today. So let this Parliament be a force for social justice, green transition and fair recovery for all. This Parliament has declared a climate emergency. Let us act on it by ensuring that the Commission delivers on the Green Deal. Let’s raise the bar for climate action and the protection of biodiversity, and let’s earn the title as guardian of the treaties, when the Commission fails to fulfil this role. This House must lead by example. As your President, I will work tirelessly for a European Parliament where diversity is an asset, not a disadvantage. Zero tolerance on sexism is possible. Let us make anti-harassment training mandatory. Let’s create an equal workplace with flexible methods. Let’s ensure transparency and internal democracy in this House, ending the time of back-room dealings. Let us practice what we preach by making sure our own institution is a front-runner in the green transition. For example, by adding solar panels on the 20 000 square metres of flat roof available on our buildings here in Strasbourg. We have had the courage to take on the Commission and the Council when it was necessary in the past. As your President, I will fight for a feminist parliament that defends and protects. Let us be courageous again. Mr President, colleagues, before I finish. You cannot be what you cannot see. To all the 10-year-old girls out there who are told that you do not belong, with this candidacy I want to show you that you do. The European Parliament, this House, is yours.

Madam President, thank you very much. In Poland, a total ban on abortions has been in place for a year. Large parts of the country are covered by so-called LGBTIQ-free zones, and now the Polish government is pushing for the introduction of a national register where women, pregnant women, should be registered and monitored. It sounds like a scene from a dystopian TV series, but that's the reality for Poland's women. whereas Polish rulers systematically work with the Catholic Church and ultra-conservative organisations against women’s rights and freedoms, enabling oppression, discrimination and hatred against LGBTIQ people; Here's how it is. Confidence in the Polish government is exhausted, and the EU has democratic tools that can be used to put an end to their ideas. There's no defense as to why we don't use them. The people of Poland that just as much EU citizens as you and me.

Madam President, We have a lot of problems in Europe. We are facing enormous challenges. Then you choose to make a hen out of a feather, when you should instead speak plainly about the growing inequality in Europe, about poverty in Europe, about racism and discrimination in Europe, about gender equality that is repeatedly threatened. You should spend time highlighting how right-wing populism systematically works against the rights and freedoms of women and girls. You should talk about the climate crisis, about how we are going to save our planet and about the need for Europe to be at the forefront of transition. You should talk about that. The fact that we are debating an internal working document instead, the purpose of which is to make all European citizens feel included in the work of the European Union, is under criticism. You should be ashamed. Your way of misleading and abusing your mandate clearly shows why we need an EU Commissioner fighting for the rights and freedoms of all, for women and for LGBTIQ people.

Mr President, thank you very much. Every day, women are beaten, raped and killed or murdered by men close to them. Every day, children are also subjected to the abuse that it is actually also to see and hear their mother being subjected. We can keep talking about it being like this. Or we decide to do more to stop it. It is possible, but it requires us to use the tools that are available, that work. In other words, it is politicians, the party group, the parliament, the government or the Commission who do not do what is necessary, who do not use the tools that actually exist, all politicians who accept that men abuse, rape and kill women. You know who you are and we know who you are.

Mr President, thank you very much. The complex issue of ensuring demand for labour as well as eliminating exploitation and the more or less slave-like conditions of the labour market we call the black labour market has been on the EU agenda for decades, but a few significant steps for change have been taken. whereas the lack of legal pathways, especially for migrants working in middle- or low-wage sectors, coupled with an increasing number of closed borders and restrictive migration policies, is forcing people to make life-threatening journeys in order to reach dreams of jobs under safe conditions at fair payment; The Green Group therefore welcomes the report presented by our colleague Abir Al-Sahlani. If the report's demands become a reality, it will clearly improve the conditions for migrants coming to the EU to work. However, we have tabled an amendment to include the need for an intersectional perspective on migration legislation. Labour immigrants are not a homogeneous group, and we know that women, for example, are particularly vulnerable and at risk of exploitation. Anyone who disagrees with Mr Al-Sahlani's report accepts that people are exploited with the aid of life. I hope many of us want to see a change.

Madam President, thank you very much. Being a democrat comes with the task of reacting instinctively to those who, with threats and violence, try to intimidate other people into silence. We elected representatives have a special responsibility to be at the forefront of the fight against racism and extremism. We shall give concrete expression to the zero tolerance of democratic resistance towards those who do not respect democratic rules of the game. The politician who relativizes and does not clearly distance himself from the anti-democratic forces is a politician who gives these forces power and opportunity. So who do you want to be? The one who makes racism, hate and violence possible? Or do you want to be the one who resists?

Mr President, thank you very much. Madam President, thank you very much. Mr. Prime Minister! Every day that goes by without the EU acting, we allow the Polish Government to restore Polish democracy. It is unacceptable that the European Commission does not use all existing means to do its job of guarding and defending the EU treaties. We may be frustrated that the Polish government is lying without shame and betraying its own people, but we cannot accept that the European Commission is not doing what it should. We can't sit back and watch. The EU must ensure that the people of Poland have the same rights as any other EU citizen.

Mr President, thank you very much. Last year we condemned the Polish Government's attack on abortion rights and we showed solidarity with the tens of thousands of brave Poles who took to the streets to protest the policies of the right-wing conservative government. Today, a year later, it's time again. In Texas, the same forces as in Poland have gained ground. The new abortion law that has been passed bans all abortions after week 6, and it makes no exception. It doesn't matter if you've been raped or subjected to incest. The law even calls for announcing. Anyone who can point out a person who has had an abortion or someone who has helped so that an abortion has been performed, that person, the pointer, can be rewarded with thousands of kronor. We know that this law will have devastating and deadly consequences. We know that banning abortion does not lead to fewer abortions. This leads to fatal abortions. What happens in Poland and Texas does not happen in a vacuum. The same value-conservative forces that restrict the rights of women and LGBTIQ+ people and minorities in Texas and Poland are also trying to gain ground in other states and countries, including your country. In our country. These are movements that transcend national boundaries and step by step challenge the progress that women have been fighting for for generations. Equality, equality, the right to make decisions about one's own bodies. It's tiring, and it's too fucked up. But we must continue to protest. To sound the alarm. Condemn every step in the wrong direction. We owe it to all those who have gone before us, and it is our responsibility to those who come after us.

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner. In Sweden, one in ten children live in a violent family and are forced to see a parent abused. No child should be forced into contact with a parent who threatens, insults, strikes or kills. It's not harder than that. The new child peace crime that we have had to fight for in Sweden makes it criminal to expose the mother to her children or her partner to violence in front of the children. It is a big step in the right direction and a protection for all children. And it should be a protection for all children, not only in Sweden but in all 27 Member States. Putting the child's best interests first may sound like a matter of course. At the same time, there are politicians who pursue a completely different policy. They reduce children's rights. I hope that the work we have now done will lead to change.

Madam President, thank you very much. Listen to me now: One in three women in the EU has ever been subjected to violence. One in three women! So crazy is the reality we live in. Men's violence against women is everywhere. In every place. In every room. It is violence that hurts, that creates insecurity, that divides families, that kills. The fact that the EU, based on the principle of gender equality, does not have strong common tools to combat men's violence against women is unacceptable. We cannot, we must not, continue to betray the women who are abused, who are raped, who are deprived of the right to make decisions about their own bodies. Everyone should have the right to live free from violence and oppression, and we must defend it.

Madam President, thank you very much. Everyone knows that the lives of girls and women in Afghanistan became a nightmare on the day the Taliban took power – a life without human rights, without the ability to move freely in the streets and squares, a life without having to choose how they want to live. All of us who have listened to women in and from Afghanistan in recent weeks have heard the desperation. We can all see the testimonies and evidence showing how those protesting against the Taliban's insane coercion are beaten and killed. We all know that we are now on a path. Should we betray the Afghan girls and women and those who fought for human rights, LGBTIQ people and journalists? Or should we show them and the rest of the world that the EU's foreign policy is based on values that are more than fine words?